Since the industrial utility of magnetism became evident, there has been constant research to improve or increase the magnetic force/field produced by permanent magnets. The improvements have primarily involved the magnetic material rather than developing an amplifying structure that increases the magnetic flux density.
In addition to the use of permanent magnets in research and various magnetically operated devices, they have also been used for treating fluids, and in particular water flowing in fluid conduits.
Water in a natural stream carries a positive static charge which causes the suspended solids to tend to precipitate and the dissolved solids to tend to remain in solution, in an ortho-rhombic precrystalline state. Water flowing, in a conduit, however, loses its positive charge. This condition causes most suspended solids to tend to remain in solution, and most dissolved solids to change to a rhombic precrystalline state. In the case of calcium carbonate, which is the most predominent dissolved mineral in "hard" water, the change is from aragonite (a fragile, orthorhombic crystal) to calcite (the familiar, rhombic, hard scale crystal present in pipes).
Currently, water treatment and conditioning are primarily provided by the chemical removal of minerals. This method has caused wide-spread pipe and water equipment damage and extensive pollution. Additionally, these methods are also material and labor-intensive, requiring constant supply, system maintenance, equipment repairs and effluent treatment.
The current magnetic water treatment devices are classified into external and internal devices. The internal devices are located within the conduit in the path of the water flow. These units do prevent some conduit scaling. However, they suffer from head loss, fouling caused by obstructions, collect iron particles on the magnetic elements and promote corrosion of the conduit; requiring chemical corrosion inhibitors which pollute the effluent. The internal units also require periodic cleaning, are harder to install and monitor than the external units and are generally, more expensive.
The external devices are further classified into passive devices requiring no outside power or devices that use electro-magnets which do require power. The electro-magnet devices are more expensive, they deteriorate with time, they have power supply problems, require maintenance and they are subject to the dangers of shock, fire and electrolysis. The instant invention falls into the category of a passive device.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention however, the following U.S. patents were considered related:
______________________________________ PATENT NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 4,265,754 Menold 5 May 1981 4,265,746 Zimmerman et al 5 May 1981 3,567,026 Kolm 2 March 1971 3,608,718 Aubrey, et al 28 September 1971 ______________________________________
The Menold and Zimmerman patents, of which Zimmerman is the inventor of the instant invention, both cover a system that uses an external magnetic amplifying assembly which maintains a negative static charge on an electrically conducive water conduit. This assembly differs from the design of the instant invention in that the prior art assembly requires a relatively thin, metallic strip 32 that passes over the top of the structure 18 and over the side surfaces 22 where it is fixed in place. The segment of the strip 32 that passes over the top of the structure 18 is spaced therefrom to avoid magnetically short-circuiting the field of the pole members 24. An insulative member 34 fills that space to prevent a magnetic short circuit. This insulative strip was found to be not cost-effective and not required. Additionally, the two piece interfitting housing 38 was found to be not conducive to manufacturing, difficult to assemble and more importantly, due to its smooth surface, was difficult to securely attach the housing to the fluid conduit. This attachment problem, in many cases, also causes an electrical resistance to occur at the interface of the pole pieces and conduit. This resistance inhibits electrons from flowing from the outside to the inside of the fluid conduit, which is what causes the conduit to change from a positive charge to a negative charge.
The prior art system functions without a downstream filtering assembly. However, adding such an assembly drastically reduces some important contaminants, such as, chlorine, iron and sulphur from water.
The Kolm and Aubrey patents cover primarily the removal of metallic ore from a slurry.